What You Need To Know About Cardiomyopathy (Chronic Heart Disease) Right Now

Lydia Clark was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy after a cardiac arrest episode when she was 16. She now has a pace maker and is awaiting a heart transplant

Cardiomyopathy is a heart disease that can be life threatening, especially if you don’t know you have it. Some people have no symptoms of the disease. Others have symptoms but aren’t aware that they need to act on them.

You do need to act on them. Pediatric cardiomyopathy is the number one cause of sudden cardiac arrest and heart transplants in children. In adults, it can lead to heart failure, a condition that affects more than 6 million people in the United States. The good news is that in many cases, if cardiomyopathy is detected early and managed properly, sudden cardiac death can be prevented and you can lead a relatively normal life.

You can do two things today to help bring your family better heart health:

(1) Know your family’s heart history. If one of your relatives has cardiomyopathy, it’s possible that it was inherited and other family members could develop it too.

(2) Be aware of the symptoms shown below and know that they are serious. Anyone with these symptoms should be evaluated by a cardiologist.